Calling ‘Aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) a “strategic necessity”, Navy chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan on Tuesday (November 3, 2026) said that there is a need to build a Navy that can fight, sustain and adapt without being constrained by extraneous factors or external dependencies.
The theme of his address was ‘Aatmanirbharta in Naval Systems at 2047’.
the admiral also said all stakeholders need to put their minds and hearts together to build a navy that can “answer the requirements of the 21st-century national security of India and make every single one of us proud” While underlining the need for building greater self-reliance in defence.
The dialogue, hosted by Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), brought together senior officers from the defence ministry, domain experts from the country and abroad, and industry representatives.
The Navy chief said growing political tensions globally have inflamed “old, historical fault lines, and today one can see the use of force as an acceptable instrument of national policy, or rather a preferred instrument”. Pointing to the rise of non-state actors without naming anyone, he also said that democratisation of technology has happened, and technology is available to both “good boys” and “bad boys”. The Navy chief also said there was a need to fill “critical gaps” and invest more in research and development (R&D), as well as in niche and emerging technologies. Later, the Navy chief also fielded some questions from the audience, including one on the Indian Navy’s outlook for strategic regions in the Indian Ocean Region like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Strait of Malacca, in view of the capabilities of “our adversaries”. The admiral, in his response, said, “We are quite cognisant of the capabilities of our adversaries. He said the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a key area for the Navy, and so is Lakshadweep, adding that the naval force is “doing everything it can”, as part of boosting its overall capability matrix.
